Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, released in Japan as Biohazard 3: Last Escape is a survival horror video game and the third installment in the Resident Evil series developed and published by Capcom. The game was released for the Sony PlayStation, and was subsequently ported to the Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo GameCube. The game is also available for download on the PlayStation Network for use with both the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable. The first half of the game occurs 24 hours prior to Resident Evil 2 and the second half takes place two days after. The storyline expands upon the settings and events of the T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City, and concludes with the fate of the city and its infected population. The game's storyline was later used as the basis for the 2004 film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis PAL PlayStation boxart Developer(s) Capcom Production Studio 4 Publisher(s) Capcom, Eidos Interactive (Europe), Nintendo Australia (Gamecube) Designer(s) Kazuhiro Aoyama (director), Shinji Mikami (producer) Composer(s) Saori Maeda, Masami Ueda Series Resident Evil Platform(s) PlayStation, Windows, Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation Network Release date(s) September 22, 1999show PS |- JP September 22, 1999 NA November 11, 1999 PAL February 18, 2000 Windows JP June 16, 2000 PAL November 24, 2000 NA April 16, 2001 DC JP November 16, 2000 NA November 17, 2000 PAL December 22, 2000 GCN NA January 14, 2003 JP January 23, 2003 PAL May 30, 2003 Genre(s) Survival horror Mode(s) Single-player Rating(s) BBFC: 15 ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ OFLC: M PEGI: 16+ Media PS, PC: CD-ROM DC: GD-ROM GC:GameCube disc Input methods Controller, Keyboard Plot The player takes control of former STARS member Jill Valentine in her attempt to escape a ruined and zombie-infested Raccoon City. On her way to the Racoon City Police Station, she runs into Brad Vickers, who is killed by Nemesis for being part of the STARS unit, since Umbrella believes that the STARS members know about their operations in the Arklay Mountains, and will reveal Umbrella to the world. Later on, she encounters three surviving members of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS): Carlos Oliveira, Mikhail Victor and Nicholai Ginovaef. Nicholai is soon presumed dead after an encounter with zombies as Jill gets parts for the cable car. Mikhail sacrifices himself to save Jill and Carlos from the Nemesis, a bio-organic weapon. The cable car that the three were in bursts into flame, and Jill and Carlos are separated. Jill and Carlos meet up later in a clock tower where Carlos has said a rescue helicopter will arrive. Jill summons the helicopter by ringing the clock tower's bell. Nemesis destroys the helicopter, and infects Jill with a virus. Jill temporarily defeats Nemesis, Carlos finds Jill in her in a state of weakness, and she blacks out. It is during this period of darkness that Carlos searches for the vaccine to Jill's infection, and the events of Resident Evil 2 occur. Carlos goes to Raccoon City Hospital to make the vaccine, and while there, meets Nicholai, who reveals that he is a Umbrella Supervisor who collects information based on the soldiers' ability to fight the BOWs. However, the mercenary that Nicholai shot pulls the pin on a grenade he was holding, and Nicholai jumps out a window to escape the blast. Soon after, Carlos is able to create the vaccine, and as he is leaving to go back to the clock tower, Nicholai (presumably) sets a time bomb at the base, and blows up the hospital. Carlos returns to Jill with the vaccine, warns her about Nicholai, and leaves. Jill then proceeds through Raccoon Park, where she eventually enters a cabin, finds more about the plans for Raccoon City, and briefly meets up with Nicholai again, who explains the role he played. Leaving, Jill enters the cemetery again, only to face off with a giant worm, and defeat it before proceeding. Jill meets up with Carlos in an Umbrella facility, who tells her that the U.S. government, after hearing of unsuccessful efforts to avert the T-virus infestation, orders the destruction of Raccoon City by a nuclear missile. Jill and Carlos split up again to find a way out of the facility. Jill turns on the power so that an exit can be unlocked, but on the way to it, she meets up with Nicholai. He tells her about how he killed the other Supervisors, and how there is a bounty on Jill's head, but he is killed soon afterward. At this point in the game, the player has fifteen minutes to escape the city before the missile strikes. While attempting to escape, Jill has to face a mutated Nemesis one final time and kill it with the assistance of a rail gun. Jill then escapes Raccoon City along with Carlos. Depending on the player's choices, a different ending plays. The city's destruction by the missile is shown, and depending on the player's actions, Barry Burton is the pilot who saves Jill and Carlos. Then a news report is heard about Raccoon's City's destruction, and how people uninvolved will hear about the disaster. Gameplay A new feature is the Nemesis, an experimental Tyrant programmed by Umbrella to hunt down and kill the remaining STARS members. Nemesis is very different from most enemies. He can run, use weapons, and has a dodge move, and is capable of pursuing the player from one area to the next. Nemesis is encountered throughout the game, in set-pieces, boss fights, and the occasional random encounter as the player explores the city. Even if defeated in combat, Nemesis will eventually get back up and continue pursuit. In a departure from the game's predecessors, the player cannot choose between two playable characters from the beginning. Instead, the game is played almost entirely as Jill, although there is a short section in which the player controls Carlos. Resident Evil 3 incorporates a dodge move that allows the player to avoid or repel enemy attacks. The player can also use a new quick turn ability, spinning 180 degrees, allowing the player to escape or turn to face an enemy very quickly. Getting up or down staircases can now be freely done just by walking to them, and does not require the player to press the action button; enemies can now follow the player up or down stairs. The game also features an ammunition creation system in which new ammunition can be created from gunpowder through the cartridge reloading tool, or by combining gunpowder with ammunition. Players can also shoot oil drums or pipes located in certain areas resulting in an explosion or a spray of steam that can kill nearby enemies. The game also incorporates a randomization feature in which some item and enemy placement, as well as certain puzzle solutions and cutscenes, change during gameplay. At certain points in the game, the screen will turn white and the player will enter Live Selection Mode, in which they're prompted to choose between one of two possible actions, affecting the direction the story takes. There is only a limited amount of time to choose. There is an unlockable minigame titled "The Mercenaries - Operation: Mad Jackal". The player can choose from the three UBCS members that appear in the main game, with each character having a different set of items and weapons. The objective is to reach the warehouse from the station cable car in a limited amount of time. The player can extend their remaining time by killing monsters in quick succession, and gain additional items and ammunition by saving civilians. The player can use their winnings from the minigame to purchase unlockable weapons with infinite ammunition for the main game. There are also five alternate costumes for Jill and eight different character-specific epilogues that are unlocked sequentially after the player clears the game several times. Each epilogue reveals the fate of a major character from the first two games following the destruction of Raccoon City. Development *Ports Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is the last core title in the series to be released for the PlayStation, but there have been three ports since the original release for the following platforms: Dreamcast, PC and Nintendo GameCube. The PC and Dreamcast versions allow the player to choose Jill's outfit in the main game right from the start without going to the boutique. There are two additional outfits not in the PlayStation version. The "Operation: Mad Jackal" minigame is also available right from the start, which had an added feature allowing players to post their top scores online on Capcom's official website (this function has since been discontinued). The Dreamcast version included selectable outfits from the start with new additions, as well as the added feature of allowing players to view their character's current health via a VMU. The Nintendo GameCube version is a direct port of the PlayStation version with no added features other than an increased framerate for FMV scenes and smoother-looking character models. Critical Reception Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings PS: 88% (36 reviews)1 DC: 81% (20 reviews)2 PC: 75% (14 reviews)3 GC: 64% (19 reviews)4 Metacritic DC: 79% (13 reviews)5 PC: 71% (8 reviews)6 GC: 62% (14 reviews)7 TopTenReviews PS: 3.64 out of 4 (21 reviews)8 DC: 3.25 out of 4 (19 reviews)9 PC: 2.92 out of 4 (11 reviews)10 GC: 2.44 out of 4 (14 reviews)11 Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com GC: C12 Allgame PS: 13 DC: 14 PC: 15 GC: 16 Computer and Video Games PS: 9.0 out of 1017 DC: 8.0 out of 1018 Edge 8 out of 10needed Eurogamer PS & DC: 9 out of 10needed GC: 4 out of 1019 Famitsu GC: 32 out of 4020 Game Informer DC: 8 out of 1021 GC: 7.75 out of 1022 GamePro PS: 23 DC & GC: 2425 Game Revolution PS: A-26 DC: C27 GameSpot PS: 8.8 out of 1028 DC: 8.3 out of 1029 PC: 6.9 out of 1030 GC: 4.7 out of 1031 GameSpy GC: 32 IGN PS: 9.4 out of 1033 DC: 8 out of 1034 PC: 7.6 out of 1035 GC: 5 out of 1036 Official PlayStation Magazine (US) PS: needed PC Zone 8.1 out of 1037 PSM PS: needed X-Play GC: needed While not as commercially successful as its predecessor, Resident Evil 3 received rave reviews. GameSpot said: "Unlike other series that offer incremental 'improvements', the RE lineup continues to refine an already excellent premise".28 IGN critic Doug Perry praised the game, saying: "The story still wonderfully unfolds in an intensely slow, intriguing way, and the combination of the great story telling and precise style of gameplay is still perfectly blended".33 Dale Weir from Game Critics called it "the best Resident Evil game in the entire series".38 As of March 2008, Resident Evil 3 had sold 3.5 million copies worldwide.39 edit Novelization Resident Evil: Nemesis, S. D. Perry's novelization of the game, was the fifth book in her series of Resident Evil novels. Category:Zombie Video Games Category:Resident Evil